Improvement in skirt-supporting corsets



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

L. S. SCOFIELD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SKIRT-SUPPORTING CORSETS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4 3,930, dated August-23, 1864.

To all whom it may concer-nl' Be it known that I, L. S. ScoEIELn, of Bostc n, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Corsets 5 and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification, is a description of my invention sufficient to enable those sli led inthe art to practice it.

This improvement relates to the manner of snp porting a hoop-skirt upon a eorset,instead ot upon the hips of the wearer, the invention consisting in the employment, in connection with a corset, of a series of straps fastened upon and around the same, as will be readily understood from the following description and drawings.

Figure l represents afront view of a corset, showing my invention as applied thereto, and Fig. 2 a View ofthe back of the same.

a denotes the body ofthe corset, made to be .laced on the back, and to be hung upon the shoulders by shoulder-straps b and buckles c. On the back of the corset I place two or more straps, d, havin g button-holes at one end which fasten over buttons e, as will be readily understood 5 and the front of the corset is provided with a stationary strap, j', or one fastened or stitched at bot-h ends to the corsetbody a. Around the corset the wearer passes the waistband ofthe skirt, extending oneend through the strap j" at the front, while the straf s d are passed over the waistband at the back and fastened to the buttons e. The ends of the vskirt-band being fastened together A without drawing the band tightly around the waist, it will be evident that the weight ofthe skirt is suspended upon the corset andthrough it from the shoulder straps b, instead of from or upon the hips by a band fastened tightly and uncomfortably around the body.

A corset has been made for this purpose with a posterior and lateral extension in the form of a bustle over which the waistband of the skirt is fastened 5 but this form is objectionable,beeause if the waistband is loosely fastened the skirt drags down in front, while if tightly fastened the skirt does not-hang from the corset and shoulders as intendfd; and also because, as the style of skirt worn has changed, it is desirable, in order to conform with such change, to have the skirt hang directly, or nearly so, from the waist, instead of being extended out on the back, as it is by this bustle on the corset. I make this corset, therefore, to hang or set loosely against the body of the wearer at the lower portion, while the hoop-skirt is supported from the corset above said lower portion by the straps as described, yimparting' a much more desirable, comfortable, and graceful set to the skirt than is obtained with the bustleecorset.

To enable the skirt to be hung higher or lower upon the corset, as circumstances may make desirable, I place additional buttons, g, below the straps d, so that the waistband may be fastened by the straps in the position seen in Fig. 2, or below such position and above the buttons g.

With a hoop-skirt as commonly worn by simply fastening the waistband around the body, and also with a skirt supported by a bustle-corset as above described, if the waist band breaks or becomes unfastened the waistband drops down and the skirt falls; but with the employment of the corset-straps, as set forth, if the band breaks or nnfastens the straps still hold the skirt in place, because they pass over the band -between the vertical tapes of the skirt, and these prevent the band from slipping away and the skirt from falling.

I claim-- The improvedcorset'as constructed with the skirt-supporting straps, arranged and operating substantially as set forth.

y L. S. SOOFIELD.

Witnesses:

J. B. GRosBY, F. GoULD. 

